URUMQI, China - A series of pre-dawn bombings Sunday killed or wounded at least four people in a restive region of western China, state media said. The bombings occurred amid tightened security after an attack here last week left 16 border police dead and 15 others wounded in the Muslim region of Xinjiang.

Police suspect that those killed or injured in Sunday's explosions were behind the bombings which struck Kuqa county in the south of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The agency said witnesses reported seeing flashes of fire and heard gun shots following the explosions.

Xinhua said local military sources confirmed the incident and said they have deployed forces to the area, which was also sealed off by police. Kuqa is 460 miles from Urumqi, the regional capital.

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Witnesses reported that explosions hit government offices and public security and military police posts, said Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the Germany-based World Uighur Congress, which supports independence for the region.

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Xinjiang is a large, rugged territory — one-sixth of China's land mass — that is home to the Uighurs, a Muslim minority with a long history of tense relations with the Chinese. The Uighurs, with a population of about 8 million, have complained that the Communist government has been restricting their religion and Turkic culture. .... Kuqa, a county of 400,000 people, is a popular tourist destination in Xinjiang and is rich in oil and gas resources.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/china_explosions

The Kuqa County contains soil-rich geothermal resources. It is an important base especially for the Tarim Oil and Gas Development projects. The natural gas reserves comprises two trillion cubic meters - which accounts for more than 90% of all proven reserves in the Tarim Basin. There are also oil reserves of 700 million tons, accounting for more than 70% of proven reserves. ... There are also proven coal reserves of 1.56 billion tons and Rock salt reserves of 36 million tons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuqa_County